


Tumblr Asks and Headcanons

by UltraVioletSoul



Category: Call of Duty (Video Games)
Genre: Canon Related, Crimes & Criminals, Existential Crisis, F/M, Forced Prostitution, Headcanon, Homoeroticism, Human Trafficking, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Sex, Male Friendship, Originally Posted on Tumblr, References to Depression, References to Drugs, Sexual Content, Soviet Union, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-15
Updated: 2021-01-25
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:13:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23670619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UltraVioletSoul/pseuds/UltraVioletSoul
Summary: A place to collect my responses to asks in Tumblr and various headcanons for my fic, A Man's Weakness.
Relationships: Vladimir Makarov/Reader
Kudos: 14





	1. Concerning Vladimir's Youth

**Anonymous asked:**

> _hey, i've read your makarov fic (a man's weakness) in ao3 and then found your blog here. been reading some of your tags and now i'm curious as to what you have in store for makarov and the reader. they haven't met yet but i look forward to that moment. vladimir is a mysterious character, but the way you portray him is giving me the feels. btw i like your choice of music too. fitting for a story set in the nineties when he was just a young man._
> 
> _also i agree he must have been through some serious depression when he was kicked out of the army right after the war in chechnya. like your mentioned in the fic, he got to earn all that crazy money as a criminal so it would make sense that he would spend it mindlessly on alcohol, sex and maybe drugs to deal with depression and ptsd and the fact his country was going to shit. he was trying to fill a void because there was nothing else left for him and he'd stopped all contact with his family._

* * *

Hello anon! Thank you so much for your asks, so happy that you’re enjoying the story so far and I’m sorry that I’m taking so long to update. There should be a new chapter this month, since I’ve been working on it c:

IKR! Vladimir is definitely a mystery to many of us since there’s so little information about him in the games, and the devs didn’t bother to explain many things about his past… which sucks because there are some important events of the story that should have been given more depth. In my opinion, Vladimir is an interesting character once you get to know the story behind his actions (which totally doesn’t justify them, of course) and it’s so sad that the writers lost their chance to make an amazing antagonist. Vladimir had a lot of potential but it was wasted.

Thanks! We can’t forget that Vladimir was a young lad of twenty-something back then, so nineties music it is c:

It's the nineties that were a key moment for Vladimir, the years that changed it all for him and shaped him into a ruthless criminal.

The Soviet Union had dissolved in 1991 and many republics declared their independence. Asides from a myriad of other problems, the economic situation in Russia was… well, pretty bad and many people were having a hard time while few became rich overnight.

Not long after Vladimir returns from Chechnya, he is charged with war crimes and forced to drop from the armed forces. That means he'd lost his job (and an important part of his life, as a career soldier). He didn’t have a single penny on him, the war left him with psychological problems that made it difficult for him to readjust to civilian life (regardless of the bad stuff he might have done in Chechnya), and on top of that he was labeled a criminal by the UN. By his own government, when in his mind he was only serving his country. The fact they were so willing to quickly get rid of him made him feel betrayed and used.

So the most logical step, for him, would be to embrace that life of crime. Many veterans of the wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya became gangsters because… honestly, they didn’t have a lot of options and unemployment rates were high. 

He puts the skills he's learned in the military to horrible uses. And he earns money, more money than he could have ever imagined… and he realizes that he can do whatever the hell he wants, that the world will bend to his will, if he has the ‘mighty’ dollar in his hand. That’s the discovery of a lifetime for him (someone who has been raised under communist values) and shifts his perception of the world. It both thrills him and fills him with rage because as a soldier, he’s always served his country out of pride and love for his homeland. Yet at the same time an array of new experiences becomes available to him. In a world of infinite possibilities, everything is for sale for one price or another.

Let’s consider this all happened post soviet era, and the nineties were wild years for Russia. The vacuum that the Soviet Union had left, and the end of the age of heroes, was filled with hedonism and excesses where every man was out for himself and the country was almost on the verge of anarchy. The youth was in such a hurry to taste their new freedom that they desperately got their hands on anything that promised to give them insta-gratification, and in a time like that I assure you Vladimir couldn’t have been the exception.

Does that make him happy, though? At first, it may seem to be the case. Now he had freedom, theoretically, to do whatever he wanted and without a care for the consequences. He could give an eff about the world. He is adrift and with no clear purpose, no real projects in mind other than grabbing as much as he can… and lots of time to engage in self-destructive habits. But the truth is, he’s descended to unimaginable depths of emotional misery because nothing has meaning anymore. Money can buy many things, but it cannot buy a purpose for his existence. Like you said, he only seeks to fill the void in his soul with distractions such as alcohol, drugs, and casual sex, all the things he probably despised at some point like the proud soldier he was, because he’s got nothing left and it’s better to live fast and die young. 

To him, freedom means nothing without purpose. It’s just another kind of prison. 


	2. About Vladimir and Rea-tan's relationship (spoilers)

> **Anonymous asked:**
> 
> _sorry for the spam but i read in the tags (don't speak by no doubt is an amazing song) that vladimir rejected the reader and she was a teenager? oooh... so she met him when she was young and had a crush on him, i see. oh god, that has answered my question but now i need to know more than ever what will happen between those two *cries a river* it's amazing that you got me so pumped for a story you haven't written yet, thank you so much. i hope we get to read some more._

I apologize for the late response, nonny! I agree, Don’t Speak is an amazing song. One of my favorites 💕💕💕

Hope you don’t mind some spoilers but, yes, you’d be right. Rea-tan was a teenager and she developed a crush on Vladimir at the time, but he rejected her feelings. There’s a little background between them prior to that, which caused her to nurture affection for him, so it didn’t happen out of the blue. She looked up to him because she had an idealized image of Vladimir in her mind, after some events that will be explained later on. She didn’t see him as a monster, and he’d always been careful in hiding that ugly side of him from her the best he could.

Her family was mainly involved with the Ultranationalists, though she was kept in the dark about many of their illegal activities and Vladimir never told her much either (she wasn’t oblivious to what happened around her but was smart enough to not ask questions and keep her mouth shut). They lived in the countryside of Ukraine and used their farm to mask many of their activities concerning the acquisition of uranium fuel rods and arms dealing. In a way, she was aware that Vladimir wasn’t what he seemed to be but… she played dumb and it wasn't like it actually mattered to her. He was just a good friend of her family and he came to fill a role similar to that of an older brother in some aspects.

So following that logic, she was a kid to him and he kinda felt she shouldn’t be getting involved with a man like him, because there was an abyss of worldly experience between them and he considered it'd be too much of a hassle. Plus he couldn’t afford to be in a position of weakness and since he was involved in a lot of shady stuff, well, if anyone caught wind of a serious relationship, they would try to get their hands on her to settle scores with him. And as much as he hated to admit it, he would have felt awful if something bad happened to her because of him. 

Also, Vladimir was in his late twenties (it was late 90s), so he was just starting his ascension as Zakhaev’s #1 fanboy and most favorite thug, and he’d gotten on the good side of the old man. He wanted to focus entirely on his projects and the Ultranationalist cause. A relationship would have been nothing more than an obstacle to his goals, then. But they’re definitely gonna get together later when she’s an adult 😂😂😂

Aawww, thanks! I’m starting to get back in track with the updates, so I’ll try my best 😘


	3. About Vladimir and Yuri's relationship

**For context:**

What if Rea-tan comes to the conclusion that Vladimir is a closet gay and is in a secret relationship with Yuri? So he gave her excuses like "you're just a lil sis to me, I don't see you that way", trying to be as gentle as he could not to hurt her feelings and not being outright honest with her. And when it all clicks in her head she's like "ooooohhh" because they seem to be very close and she's heard them make homoerotic remarks in private or be too up close and personal when they speak like... their faces really close in a way that can be interpreted as something else, so she thinks there's something going on between those two but he's never really taken any notice of that :v

> **Anonymous asked:**
> 
> _the reader thinking that vladimir is gay and yuri is his secret boyfriend, that's freaking gold lol on the other hand, imagine the amazing bromance those two must have for her to believe they're probably a couple xD omg i can't with this haha it's just too good._

Hahahaha, yes! It just occurred to me when I was listening to Malchik Gay (gay boy in Russian). It’s been years since I listened to t.A.T.u. and lemme tell you the nostalgia for the 2000s is strong.

I mean, the lyrics tho:

Rea-tan would be confused at first but then starts putting two and two together and goes “oooohhh… i think i get it now :O” but keeps it to herself xD

We know that Vladimir and Yuri had a strong bond before the events of MW2. They seemed to have a small history prior to the mission of One Shot One Kill in MW, in 1996, which means they've had several years of solid friendship. And not just any ordinary friendship. They were blood brothers (not in the sense of being a family but them being bound by loyalty and devotion). They were men who fought and killed and committed a lot of crimes together. Such complicity and the sharing of common goals created a significant and deep connection that might have seemed unbreakable in the beginning. 

Yuri was about the only person that Vladimir would have trusted with his life and let his guard down around. Suffice it to say that Vladimir turned him into his right-hand man when Zakhaev died and Yuri acted as his second in command. He chose his old best friend for that position because he knew Yuri was the only one who would watch his back, when others just wanted to kick him out of the party and claim the victory that Vladimir had given them in the civil war as their own. Yuri chose to follow Vladimir when the Ultranationalists split up because he wouldn’t stay with those who betrayed his friend and the interests of Russia.

That was one of Vladimir’s (and Yuri's) worst moments because his mentor and leader had been recently assassinated. The party he’d fought for, killed for, given up his soul for, and dedicated many years of his life, all of a sudden brushed him aside because they saw him as a threat to their current interests (which had nothing to do with the reason why the party was originally created). And though Vladimir still had the support of many in the military, he was bitter at the way their efforts and sacrifices were wasted for nothing, as he watched Zakhaev’s ideals for a new and stronger Russia be so quickly forgotten once the political wing of the Ultranationalists sat in power. And of course, Yuri was by his side throughout it all in spite of his uneasiness with some of Vladimir’s most ruthless actions.

He wasn’t just Vladimir’s best friend. He was his war buddy, his partner in crime, his confidant, the closest thing he had between a brother and life partner. So as you can imagine, homoerotic subtext wouldn’t be weird at all nor would they feel, I think, uncomfortable with it XD

You know, they’ve probably gone in various missions together and nights out in the wild must have been long and cold. If needed, I bet they didn’t mind snuggling together to keep warm ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) if any of them woke up with a morning wood poking at the other, they’d be like “did you pull a knife on me or are you happy to see me?” and not think anything else about it. Plus, I can assure you Yuri is the only man who can make homoerotic jokes about them, smack his ass and not be murdered in the process. Vladimir wouldn’t even be fazed by that behavior…. that’s just how they greet in private (? 

And of course, they would argue like an old married couple, they mock and rough one another up to release all that pent up testosterone (but would tear apart anyone who messes with their bro), they’ve shared flings with women and at this point they’ve seen each other’s junk too. They have already reached that ultimate level of intimacy and aren’t even embarrassed of being butt naked around the other anymore, sharing a bed together, and Vladimir may show a keen interest in watching Yuri have sex with some woman they're shagging while having a smoke. It’s the most normal thing in the world between bros :v

~~He would never share Rea-tan with Yuri tho.~~

But on that note, probably Yuri's betrayal was the one that hurt the most and the one he didn't expect.


	4. About Vladimir and Rea-tan's relationship - Part 2 (spoilers)

> **anonymous asked** :
> 
> hello your makarov fic they are wonderful I wanted to ask you when and where that affection is born? Was it strange to admit it?

* * *

Hello there, nonny! Thank you, it really puts a smile on my face to know that you’re enjoying my story and even more so that you’re interested enough to ask me about it 😊😊💕💕💕

Honestly, the answer would get into very spoilery ground and, though I’d love to tell you all the details, I’m afraid that I’ll ruin the “surprises”. But what I can tell you is that it was a bad thing that happened to her and it involved an abduction when she was young. So you can imagine the horror of her grandparents when she doesn’t return home one day…

And who do they turn to for help? Well, none other than Vladimir, the star boy who saved Zakhaev and man of the hour (still with a lot to prove before making a name for himself, but he holds the favor of the old man). So, to make a long story short, things pretty much go from there between Vladimir and her. I mean, they knew each other beforehand though she was most of the time distant with him (simply because she didn’t trust the people her grandpa dealt with and was told to stay out of his affairs).

After he brings her back home, her family is grateful for what he’s done, and Rea-tan comes to feel affection for him as well as admiration and trust. That event cements much of what becomes of their future relationship, though the are some other details that I’ll be keeping to myself for the time being :v

Strange to admit? For her? Hmm… I don’t think it was. She was young and at that age people generally start having their first crushes, plus he was a man that swept her off her feet after what he did for her and in a way fits the “tall, dark, handsome” archetype (I feel silly for saying that now). Suddenly this man, who she vaguely knew before, has new significance for her. And going back to the previous point, in my personal opinion, I think it’d be more appropriate to say that Vladimir has some of the traits of a [byronic hero](https://t.umblr.com/redirect?z=https%3A%2F%2Ftvtropes.org%2Fpmwiki%2Fpmwiki.php%2FMain%2FByronicHero&t=M2RmNGI0MWRlZjVjMjUzZjFkMGE5ZmZhYjg3ZmFhMzg4OWU4OTE3Yiw0Rms2dEtEWA%3D%3D&b=t%3AqJF_LzwNL6W1yr76uHFEXA&p=https%3A%2F%2Fultravioletsoul.tumblr.com%2Fpost%2F614410698263560192%2Fhello-your-makarov-fic-they-are-wonderful-i-wanted&m=1):

> _Sometimes an Anti-Hero, others an Anti-Villain, or even just a Villain, Byronic heroes are charismatic characters with strong passions and ideals, but who are nonetheless deeply flawed individuals who may act in ways which are socially reprehensible because they’re definitely contrary to their mainstream society. A Byronic hero is on his own side and has his own set of beliefs which he will not bow nor change for anyone._

Anyways, Rea-tan developed a crush on him over time, and though she admitted her feelings she kinda expected that he wouldn’t reciprocate (though she was hopeful he would). Honestly, it wasn’t even planned… just something she did in the spur of the moment, without much forethought, and it kind of threw him off… him of all people. For him? Boy, he couldn’t bring himself to admit anything and it took him many years to finally come to terms with that.

So I guess… well, he’s a little slow? :v

I hope that answers your questions, dear anon ♥♥


	5. Concerning Vladimir's youth - Part 2

Can we acknowledge the fact that Vladimir in his short-lived career as a _spetsnaz_ has over two hundred kills confirmed? (shown in the loading cutscene of Return to Sender, very tiny detail). A body count that he most likely amassed during his time in Chechnya, though it’s probably higher since there may be other deaths that were never made official (which follows the accusations of human rights violations against him on behalf of the UN). Then we see in his military record that he’s rescued one hostage and only captured 23 enemy soldiers. And to that you have to add that he was in charge of one of the toughest companies carrying out mopping up operations of Chechen guerrillas in town districts and villages (mostly house-to-house searches and armed patrols).

Can we let that sink in for a moment? He went to Chechnya, at 24. Probably he tried to do things by the book at first (we don’t know for sure, but I’d like to believe that he wasn’t born an s.o.b.), so he thought maybe there was no need to get excessively violent. Overall, Russians thought it would be easy to quash the insurgency. The Russian Minister of Defense, Pavel Grachev, had proclaimed that he would restore constitutional order in Chechnya in a few hours with a single airborne regiment. However, the 'bloodless' blitzkrieg (that wasn't supposed to last longer than December 20th of 1994) soon turned very violent and then they realized they were going against a highly motivated enemy that would rather die than surrender. A conflict that was supposed to end in a few hours extended for almost two years and, unfortunately, many people died.

The brutality and cruelty Vladimir witnessed, during his time in Chechnya, messed up his head and taught him that in war there are no rules. It taught him that if he tried to be a goody two shoes it was going to get him and his men killed. He couldn't afford the luxury of being a moral and upstanding individual in the middle of a blood bath, as he watched his comrades die horribly and where a mistake could cost him the life of the men under _his_ command (and this isn’t to say Russian soldiers did nothing wrong, the atrocities came from both sides and many people perished). His time there left an everlasting impression on his psyche, and he learned that he had to be just as cruel or even more so than his enemy because it was the only way to stand a chance— the only way he could actually make a difference.

And so he said “fuck the rules of engagement, they’re getting us nowhere and if we keep this up it’s a losing fight” and decided that he was going to do things his own way, and do whatever was necessary to win the war. But along the way any sense of conventional judgment went out the window, and he kept pushing the line farther and farther away until it blurred completely.

Though I haven’t watched this movie (yet), this scene comes to mind and it’s interesting drawing certain parallelisms. War is truly a terrifying thing to go through and it brings out the ugliest side of human nature in all its misery. 


	6. About Vladimir and Rea-tan's relationship - Part 3 (spoilers)

> **Anonymous asked:**
> 
> _sorry for this ask but i wanted to tell you that i'm really enjoying your makarov fic and how he seems like this character you can empathize with despite how awful he is. here's me hoping you can update soon but i'll be happy whenever you can do it :) reading your other posts i was wondering about the reader's abduction and how did he react to the news. having that bastard come to my rescue is really appealing to me so i just had to ask. hope you're doing okay and take care._

Aaah, sorry for the late reply! A lot has been going on in my life atm and most of it not very pretty but hey, thanks for your ask 💗💗💗 I hope I can go back to that fic soon orz.

I know Vladimir is a terrible man and his actions can’t be justified but I wanted to do a different take on him. Rather than portraying him as a s.o.b. right off the bat, maybe make it something gradual :‘v I don’t think he was a goody two shoes but I don’t want him to be a cartoonish villain either. So in a way I want to make it clear that he’s not a good man because he doesn’t act like one, and does very questionable things, but I want to show that he may have some moments in which some shred of humanity surfaces and he’s not just a monster.

_**Beware that the rest of this post contains mature themes and deals with the topic of forced prostitution. You’re all warned.** _

Anyways, in response to your ask, concerning Rea-tan’s abduction… I haven’t really decided on the details yet, but she was supposed to be abducted in order to be sold into a prostitution ring. According to the information Shepherd has gathered on Vladimir’s past, it’s known that the latter was involved in several instances of human trafficking (possibly before and after joining the Ultranationalists, I don’t think it was ever specified). Mostly women from the poorest parts of Eastern Europe were targeted and convinced with lies of well paid jobs to leave their country and travel abroad. It’s said that Vladimir worked on the logistics behind it, transporting these people. I think it’s unlikely he looked for and targeted these individuals in a vulnerable economic situation himself. That sounds like the kind of thing others would do. At least in my fic, he only dealt with the transportation.

And I say this as someone who lives near the border. I’ve heard stories of women transported under fake IDs (illegal immigrants of poor background, brought with promises of well paid jobs as well, but we know these are all lies). There was even a scandal in my town because the (former) mayor and other authorities were involved in these illegal activities and used their position of power to run those operations. Heck I even know the story of someone who used to work for a bus company and how they brought in people who wanted to cross the border, making them pose as tourists to the immigration department. There was a logistic behind it too, and a lot of money involved.

All in all, Vladimir would have a cynical view about it. He’s not necessarily proud of the crap he does but neither does it keep him awake at night. It is what it is. He’d think that if those people were stupid enough to believe in those lies, that’s their problem.

And though it isn’t the case of Rea-tan (it was actually the fault of someone else) maybe it’s the first time he actually worries because he knows _damn_ well what happens to those girls. He knows that she’s going to end up in the lap of an old depraved man, drugged and forced to do all kinds of nasty things. She’s going to be beaten, raped, filmed, and if she’s lucky maybe she’ll die soon and not suffer anymore.

He wasn't unaware of the obscene fate that awaited these blissfully ignorant girls, but it wasn’t his problem at the time. However, Rea-tan is the granddaughter of his boss’s friend and her grandma begged him, crying non-stop, to bring her home. It’s his freaking problem now because he made a promise to them and he can’t fail. If he shows Zakhaev he’s incapable of handling something like this and disappoints him, then he’s going to lose a chance to prove himself (keep in mind that I’m talking late 90s and Vladimir had recently gained Zakhaev’s favor). Still, deep down he actually likes Rea-tan and doesn’t want her to be hurt or traumatized by the aberrant perversions of others. He wants to bring her home to her family and then he’ll ask Yuri to help him tie up loose ends.

Rea-tan didn’t fall for those scams, even though on a few occasions she told her family her classmates talked about these 'modeling’ agencies that were recruiting young girls outside her school. Her grandparents dismissed it as something stupid and that she shouldn’t pay any attention to it, that it was all a scam though they wouldn’t tell her exactly why— maybe to spare her from some nasty details. Vladimir, however, was more crude and told her the truth. That it was all a lie to ensnare young clueless girls and then take them away to sell them into sexual slavery. She was shocked and disgusted, but nonetheless thankful that he was sincere with her.

But yeah, I would say that Vladimir is an unlikely hero :v

Thanks and you too take care! ;u;


End file.
